Some Kind of Superhero
by kennagirl
Summary: The chaos of Christmas morning at Hogwarts. (Part 7 of 13 in the Candy Cane! collection.)


Christmas morning came really early. Too early for Nathan Lennox. The curtains on the dorm window were too thin to block out the eight 'o' clock sunshine. This was his second year and he knew he should have brought curtains, but his dorm mates were early risers who liked to see the sun. They had gotten up an hour before and by now were playing with their gifts. He rolled over, decided it wasn't worth it to go back to sleep, and started digging through his pile of presents. Books from his grandparents, candy from his friends, clumsy homemade crafts from his little sister. It was the general collection of presents. Then he found the one from his parents.

His dad worked in the Experimental Charms Department of the Ministry. He always came up with new ideas and let Nathan test them. Anti-Secretive Jinxes were his favorite to use without Nathan's knowledge. But Nathan enjoyed the ones that allowed him to use magic. He opened the card.

_This is a new one. Cast it over a beloved object and it will be able to perform three spells. It has been tested on my watch. It is designed to place on sentimental items people wear and can be used as protection in extreme situations. Have fun! Love, Dad and Mum._

At the bottom of the card was written the wand movements needed to cast the charm and the word "Vanoti." So he had the spell. Now he just needed the object. His gaze automatically went to the saxophone in the corner of the dorm room. He played it every night, despite his roommates objections. His mother had suggested he take it up. She was a Muggle and had played herself back in school. It was definitely a no-brainer to take his wand over to the saxophone, wave it in just the right way, and murmur "_Vanoti_." It shivered noticeably and glowed yellow. He picked it up and found it warm to the touch. Now he just needed something to test it on.

He headed down the stairs and found first-year Dennis Creevey sitting cross-legged on the floor, playing with a doll in his lap. The common room was empty except for Dennis. He crossed its arms and threw it in the air over and over again. It looked rather ragged, like he had had it for years. It was probably one of those toys that he got as a little kid and just couldn't give up. Nathan's sister had something like that. Lauren couldn't go to sleep without her little stuffed froggy. Nathan refocused his attention on Dennis and saw something odd.

Giant rats were crawling up towards Dennis. He saw them and started shrieking. They crawled over his legs and he started to get up, but the weight of the rats forced him back down so he was crawling toward the staircases with the rats attacking him. Nathan had left his wand in the dorm, so he gripped his saxophone tightly and shouted, "_Immobilus_!"

The rats froze, and, one by one, fell off Dennis's back and to the floor, petrified. He scrambled up and ran to Nathan, jumping up and down. "Do you know what that was?" he cried, more scared than even when he fell in the lake on his first night.

"No," Nathan admitted. "But I don't want to stick around to see them wake up. Let's go." They clambered out of the portrait hole, fully intending to find Professor McGonagall and tell her about the mouse problem. Halfway down to her office, Dennis remembered something.

"I left Captain Candy on the floor back in the common room!"

Nathan looked at him like he was crazy. "We're not going back there until those vermin are gone."

Dennis looked like he was going to cry. "But…but…he's my best friend!" he whimpered. Then he used the puppy-dog eyes. Nathan was always a sucker for puppy-dog eyes from anyone younger than him. So he trooped back up to the tower and gave the password. He took one look inside and saw the writhing mass of mice in the middle of the rug. He racked his brain to remember the spell his dad used when he and his sister were fighting over a toy and neither would give it up.

"_Accio toy_!" The little gingerbread-looking military man flew out of the pile, with a rat still clinging to it. Nathan caught the toy, flung off the mouse, and shut the portrait hole as he fell out. "Here you go," he said as he handed the doll to Dennis. "Happy now?"

"Yeah," he replied before skipping off down the corridor, clinging to the doll. Nathan followed him and watched as he turned the corner. Then he heard the scream. He ran ahead to see Peeves holding several stone busts over the heads of Dennis and another first-year Gryffindor and getting ready to drop them.

Nathan saw the effigies fall and automatically cried, "_Protego_!" A shield went up over the two young ones and the stone just bounced off and onto the floor. Peeves swore and flew away, having been thwarted in his brilliant plan.

Dennis and the girl, whose name was Natalie McDonald, stared at Nathan. "You battled the mouse army, rescued Captain Candy, and saved us from a vicious pile of rock," Dennis said, awestruck. "All without your wand. You must be some kind of superhero. Like in a comic book."

Nathan liked the sound of that. "You know what, Dennis?" he said. "I am."


End file.
